Lt. Gov. Quinn announces the donation of 40 laptop computers to the Illinois School for the Deaf – and 40 more for children in the developing world.
(SPRINGFIELD) - On Friday, Nov. 16, at 10:00 a.m., Lt. Governor Pat Quinn will announce that 40 elementary school students at the Illinois School for the Deaf will soon receive brand new, cutting-edge XO laptop computers.
The Lt. Governor’s office is teaming up with the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University to purchase the 40 XO laptops from One Laptop Per Child, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving education everywhere.
And, taking advantage of a limited-time offer to purchase computers through a “Give 1 Get 1” promotion, One Laptop Per Child will match the 40 laptops for Illinois children by sending 40 XO computers to students in developing nations.
MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of One Laptop Per Child, joined Lt. Governor Quinn on Monday to announce the launch of the “Give 1 Get 1” promotion, which offers residents of North America the opportunity to purchase two XO laptops for just $399 – one laptop for the buyer and one for a child in a developing country. The promotion will last until Nov. 26.
“This is an opportunity to bridge the worldwide digital divide as well as the one that exists right here in Illinois,” Quinn said. “Laptop computers are transforming learning in Illinois and throughout the world, and we want to continue to think of innovative ways to get laptops into the hands of children.”
One Laptop Per Child created the powerful, low-cost XO laptop to transform the content and quality of learning in emerging nations. The computer is a compact, durable, energy-efficient machine created especially for children living in the most remote environments to enjoy laptop learning at its best.
And the XO laptop’s innovations do not end with its low-cost appeal or its child-friendly programming. The ENERGY STAR qualified XO laptop consumes just one-tenth of the electricity that a typical laptop uses.
One Laptop Per Child already has pilot projects underway in 14 countries, and the effort is poised to reach hundreds of thousands more students in Rwanda, Haiti, Afghanistan, Mongolia and Cambodia in 2008.
Quinn will be joined by Chris Merrett, director of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University, Marybeth Lauderdale, superintendent of the Illinois School for the Deaf, and Fara Harper, a kindergarten teacher at the Illinois School for the Deaf.
Located in Jacksonville, the Illinois School for the Deaf is home to deaf or hard of hearing students from across the state, and offers pre-kindergarten through vocational and college preparatory curriculum.
There is still time for three lucky Illinois third-graders to win an XO laptop!Visit StandingUpForIllinois.org or call the Lt. Governor’s office at 217-782-3734 to learn how to enter an essay contest and win a laptop###
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